Marija Pavlovic on Medjugorje Mary's messages: a call to be witnesses of joy

Our Lady always asks us to live her messages. She doesn't want us to depend on them, but she calls us to be joyful bearers of her words and to be good Christians. The Blessed Virgin gives us the opportunity to come to Medjugorje and begin a new life. That is why she chose us 19 years ago. When Our Lady appeared we asked her why she chose us, and she replied: "God gave me the possibility to choose, and I chose you." As one of Our Lady's witnesses I wish to help you, that you may be touched by this special grace in this year of the Great Jubilee.

Q. Our Lady continues to be present here despite the fact that many ask what she does and why she appears for so long. Is this so?

A. "I always say that Our Lady loves us and that is why she stays with us and desires guiding us on the path which every Christian should be on and would be on if it weren't because they are inert, dormant. A Pope once said that if a Christian is not Marian he is not a good Christian. That is why I would like to make you fall in love with Our Lady. I recall that once Our Lady asked us to offer her some time in prayer during the night for nine consecutive days, so we went up the Hill of Apparitions and she would appear to us at

2.30 in the morning. We went up the hill for the entire novena, and offered it for Our Lady's intentions. As I said, Our Lady appeared at 2.30 in the morning, but we, and the people who came up with us, wanted to stay on to give thanks for her apparition, and because we didn't know many prayers we decided that each of us would say an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory Be. So it would often happen that we'd be there till 5 or 6 in the morning. At the end of the novena Our Lady appeared very happy, but the nicest thing was that she was accompanied by many Angels, some of whom were big and some little. We have always noticed that when Mary comes with Angels if she is sad they too are sad, but if she is happy their expression of joy is even more intense than hers. That particular time the Angels were very happy. At the moment of the apparition all the people who were with us saw a great number of falling stars, and they firmly believed in Mary's presence. The day after when we told the priest what had happened he told us that the day before was the feast of Our Lady of the Angels! Mary's most important messages are: prayer, conversion and fasting. She asks for prayer, but even before this she asks for conversion. Our Lady asks us to begin praying so that our lives become prayer. I remember the time that she asked us to dedicate three hours to Jesus and we said: "Isn't that a bit much?" She smiled and said: "When one of your best friends pay you a visit you don't look at how much time you spend together." So that's how Our Lady invited us to make it so our best friend was Jesus. Mary's invitation to prayer was gradual. The first prayers we said with her were the seven Our Fathers, Hail Mary's and Glory Be's, plus one Apostles Creed. Then, bit by bit, she asked for the Rosary, then the complete Rosary, and then she asked us to complete our prayer with Holy Mass. Our Lady does not force us to pray; she invites us to change our lives through prayer. It is her desire that we live prayer in a way that our lives become a continuous encounter with God. Our Lady calls us to give joyful witness with our lives. That is why, when I speak, I try to transmit the joy that she gives me. Her presence here in Medjugorje is not one of chastisement or sadness, but of joy and hope. That is why she is appearing for so long. Once, in a message to the parish, she said: "If there is need I will knock on the door of each home, of each family." I see many pilgrims who feel the need of conversion once they are home, because improving the quality of one's own life means to improve the quality of the entire family, and of the world; and in doing so we begin to put into practice the request in the Holy Scriptures: become light and salt of the earth.

Our Lady is calling us in a special way so that we may begin with all our strength to be her joyful witnesses.